Preface

Hey there, welcome to my first homebrewing creation document. Using this document you can build out races using a steamline approach similar to my own work flow when designing new races for D&D. I hope you find this document easy to read, simple to use and a helpful jumping off point for you to chase your own homebrewing dreams.

The Process

There are roughly 3 phases to pass through when going through this process. I will frame them in two different ways to accommodate both the traditional approach and embracing the ideas put forth in D&D's latest expansion book (at time of writing), Tasha's Cauldron of Everything.

Racial Traits Selection

Further Adaptations

These bodily changes are offensive or defensive augmentations that the race has taken to help them survive wherever they live.

[1] Agility. Your reflexes and agility allow you to move with a burst of speed. When you move on your turn in combat, you can double your speed until the end of the tum. Once you use this trait, you can't use it again until you move 0 feet on one of your turns.

[1] Breath Weapon. You can use your action to exhale destructive energy. This produces a __foot [15ft. cone or 30ft. line] dealing _____ (element) damage.

When you use your breath weapon, each creature in the area of the exhalation must make a _____ (Dexterity or Constitution) saving throw. The DC for this saving throw equals 8 + your Constitution modifier + your proficiency bonus. A creature takes 2d6 damage on a failed save, and half as much damage on a successful one. The damage increases to 3d6 at 6th level, 4d6 at 11th level, and 5d6 at 16th level.

After you use your breath weapon, you can’t use it again until you complete a short or long rest.

[0.5] Cantrip. You know [one cantrip of your choice from the _____(class) spell list]/[the _____ cantrip]. ______ (ability) is your spellcasting ability for it.

[1] Charge. [Requires Equine Build, Natural Weapon Hooves] If you move at least 30 feet straight toward a target and then hit it with a melee weapon attack on the same turn, you can immediately follow that attack with a bonus action, making one attack against the target with your hooves.

[1] Change Appearance. As an action, you can change your appearance and your voice. You determine the specifics of the changes, including your coloration, hair length, and sex. You can also adjust your height and weight, but not so much that your size changes. You can make yourself appear as a member of another race, though none of your game statistics change.

• You can't duplicate the appearance of a creature you've never seen, and you must adopt a form that has the same basic arrangement of limbs that you have. Your clothing and equipment aren't changed by this trait.
• You stay in the new form until you use an action to revert to your true form or until you die.

[1] Daunting Roar. As a bonus action, you can let out an especially menacing roar. Creatures of your choice within 10 feet of you that can hear you must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw or become frightened of you until the end of your next turn. The DC of the save equals 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Constitution modifier. Once you use this trait, you can’t use it again until you finish a short or long rest.

[0.5/1] Dextrous Appendage. You can grasp things with your ___ (Tail, Tentacle, Trunk, etc.). lt has a reach of 5 feet, and it can lift a number of pounds equal to (- / five times) your Strength score. You can use it to do the following simple tasks: lift, drop, hold, push, or pull an object or a creature; open or close a door or a container; grapple someone; or make an unarmed strike. Your DM might allow other simple tasks to be added to that list of options.

[0.5] Fey Ancestry. You have advantage on saving throws against being charmed and magic can’t put you to sleep.

[-1] Flight Restriction. [Requires Flight] You are unable to fly when wearing medium or heavy armour.

[1] Gore. [Requires Horn Based Natural Weapon] Immediately after you use the Dash action on your turn and move at least 20 feet, you can make one melee attack with your horns as a bonus action.

[1] Hammering Horns. [Requires Horn Based Natural Weapon] Immediately after you hit a creature with a melee attack as a part of the Attack action on your turn, you can use a bonus action to attempt to shove that target with your horns. The target must be within 5 feet of you and no more than one size larger than you. Unless it succeeds on a Strength saving throw against a DC equal to 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Strength modifier, you push it up to 10 feet away from you.

[1] Hidden Step. As a bonus action, you can magically turn invisible until the start of your next turn or until you attack, make a damage roll, or force someone to make a saving throw. Once you use this trait, you can't use it again until you finish a short or long rest.

[1] Hungry Jaws. [Requires Bite Based Natural Weapon] In battle, you can throw yourself into a vicious feeding frenzy. As a bonus action, you can make a special attack with your bite. If the attack hits, it deals its normal damage, and you gain temporary hit points (minimum of 1) equal to your Constitution modifier, and you can't use this trait again until you finish a short or long rest.

[1 - 1.5] Innate Magic. You know the _____ cantrip. When you reach 3rd level, you can cast the _____ spell once per day. When you reach 5th level, you can also cast the _____ spell once per day. _______ is your spellcasting ability for these spells.

[1]Integrated Protection. [Requires Living Construct] Your body has built-in defensive layers, which can be enhanced with armor.

• You gain a +1 bonus to Armor Class.
• You can don only armor with which you have proficiency. To don armor, you must incorporate it into your body over the course of 1 hour, during which you must remain in contact with the armor. To doff armor, you must spend 1 hour removing it. You can rest while donning or doffing armor in this way.
• While you live, your armor can't be removed from your body against your will.

Cultural Traits

Beyond physical adaptations, your race will have formed an ancestral culture that provides them with further traits.

Militant Traits

These traits are reflectiev of your custom races' ancestral strategies and methods of war.

[0.5 - 2] Armor Training. You have proficiency with ___ armor. (Costs 0.5 points for each level of armour proficiency taken and shields. Must have the lower tier armour proficiency to take the next level. Light -> Medium -> Heavy)

[1] Aggressive. As a bonus action, you can move up to your speed toward an enemy of your choice that you can see or hear. You must end this move closer to the enemy than you started.

[1] Relentless Endurance. When you are reduced to 0 hit points but not killed outright, you can drop to 1 hit point instead. You can’t use this feature again until you finish a long rest.

[1.5] Pack Tactics. [Requires Small] You have advantage on an attack roll against a creature if at least one of your allies is within 5 feet of the creature and the ally isn't incapacitated.

[0.5] Savage Attacks. When you score a critical hit with a melee weapon attack, you can roll one of the weapon’s damage dice one additional time and add it to the extra damage of the critical hit.

[1] Surprise Attack. If you surprise a creature and hit it with an attack on your first turn in combat, the attack deals an extra 2d6 damage to it. You can use this trait only once per combat.

[1.5] Toughness. Your hit point maximum increases by 1, and it increases by 1 every time you gain a level.

[0 - 1] Weapon Familiarity. You consider the _______[racial weapons] martial weapons instead of exotic weapons.

[0.5] Weapon Training. You have proficiency with the ________[weapons]. (Select up to 4 weapons)

Very Specific Group Traits

These traits reflect very specific groups of people that specialize in very specific sets of knowledge. I'd advise against making use of these traits as its unlikely all members of a race would have this knowledge.

[1] Cunning Artisan. As part of a short rest, you can harvest bone and hide from a slain beast, construct, dragon, monstrosity, or plant creature of size Small or larger to create one of the following items: a shield, a club, a javelin, or 1d4 darts or blowgun needles. To use this trait, you need a blade, such as a dagger, or appropriate artisan's tools, such as leatherworker's tools.

[0.5] Emissary of the Sea. Aquatic beasts have an extraordinary affinity with your people. You can communicate simple ideas with beasts that can breathe water. They can understand the meaning of your words, though you have no special ability to understand them in return.

[0.5] Expert Forgery. You can duplicate other creatures' handwriting and craftwork. You have advantage on all checks made to produce forgeries or duplicates of existing objects.

[1.5] Fury of the Small. [Requires Small] When you damage a creature with an attack or a spell and the creature's size is larger than yours, you can cause the attack or spell to deal extra damage to the creature. The extra damage equals your level. Once you use this trait, you can't use it again until you finish a short or long rest.

[1.5] Grovel, Cower, and Beg. [Requires Small] As an action on your turn, you can cower pathetically to distract nearby foes. Until the end of your next turn, your allies gain advantage on attack rolls against enemies within 10 feet of you that can see you. Once you use this trait, you can't use it again until you finish a short or long rest.

[1.5] Saving Face. Your people are careful not to show weakness in front of their allies, for fear of losing status. If you miss with an attack roll or fail an ability check or a saving throw, you can gain a bonus to the roll equal to the number of allies you can see within 30 feet of you (maximum bonus of +5). Once you use this trait, you can't use it again until you finish a short or long rest.

[0.5] Stonecunning. Whenever you make an Intelligence (History) check related to the origin of stonework, you are considered proficient in the History skill and add double your proficiency bonus to the check, instead of your normal proficiency bonus.

[1] Stone's Endurance. You can focus yourself to occasionally shrug off injury. When you take damage, you can use your reaction to roll a d12. Add your Constitution modifier to the number rolled, and reduce the damage by that total. After you use this trait, you can’t use it again until you finish a short or long rest.

Creating Racial Abilities

If none of the above can be used to capture what you are aiming for and you want to do something really special with your custom race, this section will hopefully assist you in tackling that goal. First here is a handful of rules of thumbs to lean on when it comes to the points system:

• Anything which adds action economy to your turn should be at least 1 point. This would include things like performing actions as bonus actions.
• Anything which has a spell like feature should be at least 1 point. An example of this would be the Firbolg's Hidden Step, which is essentially casting invisibility on one's self once per short or long rest. Using this as a baseline, you could do this for many support spells if you want to avoid innate spell casting but still want to have a magical effect.
• Anything that causes a flat additional damage should be at least 1 point. An example of this would be the Goblin's Fury of the Small, which is a one time burst of damage.
• Anything that grants advantage on skills under specific circumstances should be at least half a point.
• Anything that grants advantage on combat actions under specific circumstances should be at least a point and a half.

Here is a handful of examples of racial traits I've created in these guidelines.

Flavour Text

Once you're happy with your mechanics, to finish fleshing out your custom race, you'll need the following sections:

• A quote about the race
• A blurb that gives a quick at a glance about the race.
• A dedicated section that speaks about their physical appearance
• If you have sub races, a section which details how the subraces have branched out. If you are not using sub races, a section which details their culture a bit.
• A section which discusses their homeland or place of origin.
• A section which details common reasons people of this group might go adventuring in a cultural sense.
• A section which details the naming conventions for the race with examples.
• A section which details the relationship of the group with other races.

Bearran (example)

You'll be hardpressed to find a people that are both as kind and vicious as the Bearran. Approach them with a keg of ale and a jar of honey and they'll welcome you with open arms.

-Sylas Swansong, Herald of Ceolund

The Bearran are a native people of the continent of Northern Osora in the world of the Gallilir. Two distinct groups of Bearran call the region home, those who call the grasslands of Meadowdale their home, and those who hail from the dense forests of Haerfestland. Sporting ursine features, the Bearran have a distaste for those that confuse them with those with lycanthropy or outright refer to them as common bears.